Support devices which permit movement relative multiple axes are widely used among manufacturers, artisans, and hobbyists. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,898,068 and 3,661,376.
Through these devices present significant advances in the art of work support devices, they possess certain deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. Foremost of these deficiencies is the difficulty these devices have in maintaining heavy objects in angled orientations relative their base members. With particular reference to the prior art support device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,376, the device comprises a bushing mounted within a carrier for turning movement about an axis with the carrier itself being rotatably mounted into a base structure. Through the actuation of a single clamp, the bushing, carrier and the post mounted within the bushing are selectively arrestable and releasable in desired orientations. However, in this particular reference, the post and bushing are maintained in a selected position within the carrier through the abutment of a flat surface of the bushing against a corresponding flat surface of the carrier. As will be recognized, such surface-to-surface contact is not well suited to maintaining the orientation of the bushing within the carrier when the post within the bushing is arrested in an angled orientation. In this respect, heavy objects interfaced to the distal end of the angled post tend to cause the flat surfaces of the carrier and bushing to slide relative one another. To prevent such slippage from occurring, the user of the support device will oftentimes tighten the clamping member through the use of a wrench or similar device in an attempt to maintain the abutting contact between the flat surfaces of the carrier and bushing. However, this tightening technique is generally not successful in preventing the bushing from sliding within the carrier and oftentimes leads to breakage of the clamping member due to over-torquing. The present invention overcomes these and other deficiencies associated with prior art multiple axis support devices.